Automata
Automata are the precursors to modern day robotics. They are intricately designed figures that demonstrate a preset scenario using only mechanical processes. A past-time of watchmakers, these machines were a test of skill and artistry to give the most intricate movements. Most are crafted as lifelike as possible, with fluidity of motion the main goal, regardless of the plausibility of the scenario.
Jaquet-Droz created many automata, but the best examples were created and are displayed together: the musician, the draughtsman, and the writer. The musician plays several different songs on a functioning organ with her moving fingers and arms, following sheet music with her eyes and readjusting herself to proper form and breath as a real musician would. After each song she curtsies to the crowd. The draughtsman can draw four different pictures. He dips a quill pen in ink and draws the chosen picture using various pressures from his moving arm, a feat of accuracy when guided only by metal plates. The writer, an advanced version of the draughtsman, is the most intricate piece, able to write any message up to forty characters long. Shown above are samples of the writer's (right) and draughtsman's (left) work, along with their triple display (center).